JUDGES have decided not to award a gold medal for the best craftwork at this year’s National Eisteddfod, being held at Mold, because they said entries gave them a feeling of “deja vu”.

They also said there was not enough “work of quality” submitted, despite the #5,000 cash prize which goes with the gold medal.

The Eisteddfod’s arts officer said the high proportion of English people in Wales’ crafts community could be one factor in the relatively low number of entries.

The adjudicators were unanimous in their decision to award the gold medal for fine art to Emrys Williams of Cardiff for his giant paintings of imaginary landscapes.

But the panel – Andrew Coomber, Iwan Gwyn Parry, Julian Treuherz, Meri Wells and Bedwyr Williams – said they had extensive discussions over the gold medal for craft and design.

“There was quality work in the submission, including the work of Pamela Rawnsley, Elin Huws, David Binns and others, but there was a feeling of deja vu.

“The number of quality makers resident in Wales was not reflected in the number of entries received, and although the submission included work of quality, there was not enough of it.

“In consideration of the criteria proposed to selectors of ‘innovation’ and ‘excellence’, it was unanimously decided that, while work was short-listed, there was no outstanding submission this year which merited the award.

“It is to be hoped that a way can be found to attract the many qualifying makers, who we know are out there, to submit.”

Three of the craftworkers whose work was selected for display at the arts and crafts pavilion this year are previous winners of the gold medal. A fourth previously won a craft and design scholarship.

Robin Tomos, the Eisteddfod’s visual arts officer, said, “There’s an onus on us to reach craftworkers who have moved into Wales. That’s something we’ve been trying to do for years.”

Emrys Williams, winner of the fine art medal, was born in Liverpool in 1958, and moved with his family to Colwyn Bay in 1969. He has been a part-time lecturer at Coleg Menai, Bangor, since 1990, but the Arts Council of Wales funded a sabbatical this year.

The selectors said his work had “a serenity of vision that comes from an artist at the top of his game, exploring his chosen idiom – which at first sight appears to be child-like or naive – with confidence and maturity.”

Mr Williams said, “Many people in Wales make landscapes and seascapes, trying to make known genres work. But I have no interest in this celebration of topography. The paintings only begin to work when they cease to be like other paintings, when the images begin to function as a metaphor for something else.”

The #1,500 young artist scholarship was awarded to Barry student Jack Burton, who at 19 years is the youngest recipient. His work at the Eisteddfod uses media as varied as mobile-phone videos, light boxes and large drawings.

“It is good to see a young artist exploiting all sorts of media without being overly concerned about the outcome,” said the adjudicators.

He recently completed a foundation course at the Cardiff School of Art and Design, Uwic.

National architecture Wales should follow Ireland, Finland and Switzerland in developing a distinctive style of architecture, Eisteddfod adjudicators said at the weekend.

Alan and Gwyn Davies said, in their comments on the Eisteddfod’s architecture section, that Wales’ changing face was in the hands of architects and planners.

“In a small country that does not have a large economy, the architects and planners must play to their strengths,” they said.

“They must develop architecture that pursues a high standard and which is perhaps unique. Other small countries in Europe have managed to define and strengthen their culture through architecture and design. There is nothing to stop Wales achieving the same goal.”

They had expected that the Eisteddfod’s gold medal for architecture would go to a public building that enhanced its locality and Wales, but decided that, unlike in previous years, none of the public buildings entered this year deserved the medal.

Instead it was awarded to Penarth-based Loyn and Co. for the conversion and extension of a building erected in Cardiff in 1898. The water tower at Cyncoed housed a pumping station for a reservoir but is now a family home.